How to report SUB on tax returns?

I got the 60,000 thank you points sub on my citi premier recently. I'm curious how do you declare this in tax returns? Also do you declare the value you get from the points like 1.25 cents per point based on how it was used or just a plain 1 cent per point?

Re: How to report SUB on tax returns?

CC SUB that have a spend requirement are not generally considered income.

If you received an SUB for a bank account or an incentive like a CC referral bonus or incentive for switching to e-statements, that could be considered income.

If it's considered income by Citi and it exceeds a certain amount ($600 is the threshold IIRC), you'll get a 1099-MISC or 1099-INT or some other flavor of a 1099 early next year that will tell you so and it will tell you the exact value that Citi considers those points to be worth. Otherwise, there shouldn't be a need for you to declare it. (Note: I'm not a tax lawyer, don't take this as tax or legal advice.)

I believe, in the past when AmEx or Chase or Citi has considered it income, they usually valued their points at 1¢ apiece. See DoC links below:

Here's a little blurb on a DoC article about how Citi has handled some TY tax reporting in the past. It may be that you will only receive a 1099 in the year of redemption and only when you exceed a total redemption of $600 worth of points:

Re: How to report SUB on tax returns?

CC SUB that have a spend requirement are not generally considered income.

If you received an SUB for a bank account or an incentive like a CC referral bonus or incentive for switching to e-statements, that could be considered income.

If it's considered income by Citi and it exceeds a certain amount ($600 is the threshold IIRC), you'll get a 1099-MISC or 1099-INT or some other flavor of a 1099 early next year that will tell you so and it will tell you the exact value that Citi considers those points to be worth. Otherwise, there shouldn't be a need for you to declare it. (Note: I'm not a tax lawyer, don't take this as tax or legal advice.)

I believe, in the past when AmEx or Chase or Citi has considered it income, they usually valued their points at 1¢ apiece. See DoC links below:

Here's a little blurb on a DoC article about how Citi has handled some TY tax reporting in the past. It may be that you will only receive a 1099 in the year of redemption and only when you exceed a total redemption of $600 worth of points:

As others have said, credit card SUBs (and rewards from credit card use) are not considered taxable, basically rebates. SUBs for bank accounts (this was common with SUBs from Citi for Citigold etc) are taxable, as are apparently referral bonuses. You generally get a form is the total exceeds $600, but tax law will say you still need to declare these things even if you don't receive a form (just as a few cents in interest income SHOULD be reported even if it is below threshold for a 1099-INT) Now what your moral compass tells you to do, well, that's different!

Re: How to report SUB on tax returns?

The reporting threshold for 1099-INT is $10 not $600

"If there's a lack of money in your life, understand that feeling worried, envious, jealous, disappointed, discouraged, doubtful or fearful about money can never bring more money to you, because those feelings come from a lack of gratitude for the money you have."

"Reactions are powerful creators because they contain every element needed to manifest—they're a combination of thought, belief, and feeling in action. Positive reactions create more positive things, and negative reactions create more negative things. If you can respond to negative situations calmly and lightly, instead of with emotional turbulence, what happens next in your life will be so much better."

Re: How to report SUB on tax returns?

@NaaryalHead wrote:I'm not entirely clear on this guys. So since if I get a $700 airline ticket on my nearly 60,000 ty points, since it's over $600 do I declare it as income?

These points were provided after a spend target of $4000.

You don't need to declare it. This was a credit card SUB that had a required spend transaction, so the IRS doesn't treat it as any sort of taxable income. If the same points came from opening a Citigold bank account it would be taxable.

All FICO® Score products made available on myFICO.com include a FICO® Score 8, and may include additional FICO® Score versions. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO® Score than the versions you receive from myFICO, or another type of credit score altogether. Learn more

FICO, myFICO, Score Watch, The score lenders use, and The Score That Matters are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation. Equifax Credit Report is a trademark of Equifax, Inc. and its affiliated companies. Many factors affect your FICO Scores and the interest rates you may receive. Fair Isaac is not a credit repair organization as defined under federal or state law, including the Credit Repair Organizations Act. Fair Isaac does not provide "credit repair" services or advice or assistance regarding "rebuilding" or "improving" your credit record, credit history or credit rating. FTC's website on credit.

PRIVACY NOTICE: When you visit this website we collect your browsing activities on our site and use that information to analyze and research improvements to the website, and to our products and services. When you register for our products and services, we also collect certain personal information from you for identification purposes, such as your name, address, email address, telephone number, social security number, IP address, and date of birth. Further information is available in our FICO Data Privacy Policy. For visitors with visual disabilities, access to this website, including our FICO Data Privacy Policy, is available through assistive technologies, such as BrowseAloud, JAWS, VoiceOver, Narrator, ChromeVox, and Window-Eyes. More details on software and accessibility are available at WebAIM.org.